The 2018 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

in the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2018. The regular season began on August 25, 2018, and ended ...

. The Golden Gophers played their home games at

TCF Bank Stadium Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009, after three years of construction. It i ...

in Minneapolis, Minnesota and competed in the West Division of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. They were led by second-year head coach

P. J. Fleck Philip John Fleck Jr. (born November 29, 1980) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He has served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team since 2017. Born in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Fleck played colle ...

. Minnesota began the year by sweeping its non-conference slate against

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

, and Miami (OH); but opened Big Ten Conference play with four straight losses. The team secured wins against

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and Purdue, and then secured bowl eligibility by defeating

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

for the first time since 2003, and the first time on the road since

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

. The team finished the regular season tied for fifth in the Big Ten West Division with a conference record of 3–6. They were invited to the

Quick Lane Bowl The Quick Lane Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2014 season. Backed by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League, the game features a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Confe ...

where they defeated

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

to end the year with an overall record of 7–6. The team's starting quarterback was true freshman Zack Annexstad before he suffered an internal midsection injury in the game against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

on October 20. He did not return for the rest of the season, and redshirt freshman

Tanner Morgan Tanner Morgan (born April 17, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota. Early life and high school career Morgan was born on April 17, 1 ...

took his place under center. Both Annexstad and Morgan finished with nine touchdowns on the year. The team's leading rusher was Mohamed Ibrahim, with 1,160 rushing yards; and the team's leading receiver was Tyler Johnson with 1,169 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns, which tied for the conference lead. Johnson was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media voters. Defensive lineman Carter Coughlin and linebacker Blake Cashman each finished with 15 tackles for loss and were both named second-team All-Big Ten.

Previous season

The

Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

finished the 2017 season 5–7, 2–7 in Big Ten play to finish in sixth place in the West Division.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Schedule

Source:

Roster

Game summaries

New Mexico State

Fresno State

Miami (OH)

At Maryland

Iowa

At Ohio State

At Nebraska

Indiana

At Illinois

Purdue

Northwestern

At Wisconsin

Vs. Georgia Tech (Quick Lane Bowl)

Awards and honors

Players drafted into the NFL

References

{{Minnesota Golden Gophers football navbox

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Minnesota Golden Gophers football seasons Quick Lane Bowl champion seasons

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its incept ...